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The self-titled album from heavy hitter Pathology is upon us. This is the 9th release from a band who’ve been the gateway for many when it comes to slamming brutal death metal. Formed in 2006 by legendary drummer Dave Astor (founder of Cattle Decapitation and The Locust) Pathology have released a new album every single year, amazing work if I do say so myself. Alongside bands such as Abominable Putridity, Devourment, Visceral Disgorge and Kraanium my journey into the slam world began a few years ago. I’ll tell you right now, I am not an insanely big slam fan just as I isn’t with brutal death metal (granted I enjoy BDM more). There is simply too much shit within the genre. As I read somewhere on Reddit some time ago “for every good slam band, there’s 50 shitty ones”. I think that summarizes quite well what I think of the genre. That being said Pathology is one of the bands that do produce some wicked good slam!

Pig squeals, gutturals, chuggy groovy riffs full of breakdowns your thing? Hell Pathology got you covered once again my friend! Their 9th release is just as brutal as their old albums and when tracks like Servitors, Putrescent or Shudder comes on you just have to get fucking mental. The thing with slam is I think it has a ceiling to it that prevents it from staying in my playlist for a longer amount of time. It’s simplicity and overall trying too hard to sound brutal as fuck all the time is good for a few spins during the year but it’s generally not something I remember. It goes in one ear and out the other.

Pathology suffers from the same fate. Whereas I think this is almost as good as it gets within the genre, the genre in itself has a limitation to it. I had a good time with Pathology, just as I do with all their albums, but this isn’t something I will remember for long. For you hardcore slam fans out there though this is a must have.

Portugals very own Analepsy have been on many brutal death metal fans minds since their debut EP Dehumanization by Supremacy came out in 2015 like a hurricane and destroyed any competition in its path. Follow up the EP Analepsy has finally given us their first full-length Atrocities from Beyond. Continuing their path to extinction Analepsy are more than ready to devourer their competitors in the brutal death metal slam scene. I have to say this is one of the best debut full-length albums I’ve heard within the genre. Even with the change of a vocalist from Ricardo Proenca to Diogo Santana getting both guitar and vocal duty they still keep it brutal and it’s like nothing has changed in the band.

Analepsy are producing some of their best tracks on this album. Rifts to Abhorrence, Witness of Extinction and Atrocity Deeds are instant brutal death metal classics that will put Analepsy on the map for even more metalheads out there. Analepsy deserves all the praise they get and they are here to stay folks. The share brutality, shredding and gnarly vocals mixed in a blender is a sweet symphony of destruction. Atrocities from Beyond is a perfect debut album in many ways and Analepsy has really paved their way to the top now.

Atrocities from Beyond is out now by Rising Nemesis Records (who by the way keep releasing great stuff).

With a revamped line-up and years of touring Europe the Switzerland brutal kings Carnal Decay are finally back with their fourth full-length You Owe You Pay, six years after their latest release Top Of The Food Chain. For those of you unaware of Carnal Decay they deliver an onslaught of brutal death metal riffs, breakdowns and slams and have done so since 2002, making them veterans in the scene by now. Their lyrics are relentless and often about how the world is fucked up and that some people should bitch less and take actions of their own lives. Something I wholeheartedly agree with. Music wise I would say they are a mix of Dying Fetus with some added slam a la Ingested (yes I know a lot of you will say they aren’t slam but fuck it I think so). The band features cartoonish artwork on their covers, which shouldn’t discourage you on listening to them, as they are brutal believe me.

From top to bottom You Owe You Pay is a behemoth of class riffs and breakdowns. If you’re not banging your head while listening to this album then there is something missing in your metal veins and you should get yourself checked. It’s catchy and gives you a real energy boost, definitely something you want to spin while hitting the gym. Vocals are mainly middle-ground growl, which sometimes go deep or high pitched screams and I think it’s a really good variation that’s worked for Carnal Decay for years now.

Another high quality release and Carnal Decay are yet to disappoint me. All of their latest three releases are class albums any metalhead of the brutal death metal school should look into. You Owe You Pay being no exception and Carnal Decay has only added more sick value to their growing discography.

Digital release is out now through Rising Nemesis Records, with physical copies coming soon on Friday, March 3rd.

The debut full-length release of Internal Devour his like a sledgehammer last year and the bands idea on bringing slam to the masses might just work. Australia are great at producing brutal death metal acts and Internal Devour are no different. The slam is definitely there and the beatdowns are as hard as ever. With tracks like Gagging On Aborted Mush and Pounded Slut you can be sure that Doomed to Disembowelment brings the gore theme to the extreme Cannibal Corpse style. The track Chopped Up and Smoked even features some of the greatest slam acts in Whoretopsy, Ingested, Acra and Cerebral Incubation. Great to make your neighbours wonder what kind of sick fuck you are!

If you liked the bands EP Aborted and Slaughtered then you will feel right at home here. A great full-length debut to follow-up with which brings more of the carnage, more brutality and more slamming gore to the people. Got the feel for some brutal slam? Then look no further!

Being one of the veteran acts within the deathcore/slam genre I was obviously stoked to get to review Germany’s slam kings Acranius third full-length Reign of Terror. Having had two years filled with touring with other heavy hitters Ingested back in 2015 and now lastly together with labelmates Within Destruction they are finally back to drop a behemoth of an album.

I know it’s only January and the year is literally less than 48h old when I write this but damn will it be hard to beat this album in sheer brutality. I know many of you out there had Vulvodynia and Within Destruction as the best albums for 2016 and that’s awesome, I think this is even better though! The breakdowns, brutal slamming and gut-wrenching vocals will leave you begging for more.

From the start to finish you will headbang to this album. This is one of those albums where I have a hard time saying which one my favorite song is too, since they are all good and exactly what I am looking for in slamming deathcore. Want to get your head banging again and start off 2017 brutal? Then grab Reign of Terror by Acranius on January 27th metalhead!

Slaughter to Prevail has got a lot of hype surrounding the band. A lot of it due to Alex Shikolai’s (aka Alex Terrible) cover videos. Safe to say he is a great vocalist with a very wide range of growling who seems to be able to do it all, some might even say he does a lot of stuff better than “his peers”.

After listening to this album I just want more of the brutal manslaughter that Chapters of Misery brings. Sure it’s an EP and in a way only shows what is to come when Slaughter to Prevail release a full-length album. Which I am stoked about and hope they will release one soon rather than later.

This is brutal. This is the definition of a good deathcore album, or well EP in this case. 26 minutes of brutal high-speed madness you do not want to miss.